One of the passages over the mountains from Italy into
Transalpine and northern Keltica is that which passes through
the country of the Salassi, and leads to Lugdunum.Lyons. This
[route] is divided into two ways, one practicable for carriages,
but longer, which crosses the country of the Centrones, the
other steep and narrow, but shorter; this crosses the Pennine
[Alps]. Lugdunum is situated in the midst of the country,
serving as an Acropolis, both on account of the confluence of
the rivers, and of its being equally near to all parts. It was
on this account that Agrippa cut all the roads from this [as
a centre] one running through the mountains of the Cevennes to the SantonesLa Saintonge. and Aquitaine,Gascony. another towards the
Rhine; a third towards the ocean by the country of the
BellovaciBeauvoisis. and Ambiani,Picardie. and a fourth towards the Narbonnaise and the coast of Marseilles.From Lyons this route passed by Vienne, Valence, Orange, and
Avignon; here it separated, leading on one side to Tarascon, Nimes,
Beziers, and Narbonne, and on the other to Arles, Aix, Marseilles, Fréjus, Antibes, &c. The traveller, also, leaving
Lugdunum and the country above on his left, may pass over
the Pennine Alps themselves, the Rhone, or Lake Leman, into
the plains of the Helvetii, whence there is a passage through
Mount Jura into the country of the Sequani, and Lingones;
here the road separates into two routes, one running to the
Rhine, and the otherThis other route, says Gosselin, starting from Aouste, traversed the
Great Saint Bernard, Valais, the Rhone, a portion of the Vaud, Mount
Jura, and so to Besançon and Langres, where it separated, the road to the
right passing by Toul, Metz, and Trèves, approached the Rhine at Mayence; while that to the left passed by Troies, Châlons, Rheims, and
Bavai, where it again separated and conducted by various points to the
sea-coast. to the ocean.